English clubs including Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leicester and West Ham have completed a swathe of transfers just in time for them to mitigate financial losses and avoid Premier League spending breaches.
Aston Villa confirmed the sale of Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz to Juventus for £42.3m, a transaction that should help them to comply with top flight profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
Clubs whose financial years end in June have until Sunday night to finalise deals they wished to include in their 2023-24 accounts. Teams are assessed on a rolling three-year basis, with cumulative losses capped at £105m.
Douglas Luiz joined Villa in 2019 from Manchester City, who are due to a cut of his sale fee. He enjoyed his best season last year, scoring nine goals in 35 league goals. The 26-year-old had just one year remaining on his contract in England.
Two players are set to move Villa from Juventus – English winger Samuel Iling-Junior and Argentinian midfielder Enzo Barrenechea – but the transfers are separate to the Douglas Luiz move. This also means that Villa can book the bulk of the Juventus payment as profit.
Chelsea – another club reported to have been under pressure to trade in order to meet PSR thresholds – agreed a deal to sign midfielder Kiernan Dewbury-Hall from Leicester for £30m. Chelsea youngster Michael Golding is heading the other way – again, in a separate transaction.
West Ham’s Algeria winger Said Benrahma, meanwhile, has made his loan move to Lyon permanent for a fee of around £12m.
Tottenham Hotspur are leading the race to sign Leeds United teenager Archie Gray. Brentford appeared in pole position but failed to agree a fee, allowing Spurs to swoop.